9 Sci-fi and Fantasy Books Blooming In May

Whoa. May has got some seriously cool sci-fi and fantasy books set to release. Magic, Jane Austen, a posthumous release by Michael Crichton and a totally cool graphic novel. I’ve distilled the relatively large list of new releases down to these 9 that I think are really good bets.

Pawn: A Chronicle of Sibyl’s War by Timothy Zahn (May 2)
Yep, the author of the recent Star Wars book Thrawn brings us this new stand alone. A down-on-her-luck woman named Nicole Lee, heads away to join the maintenance crew on a spaceship. Life seems good until she realizes there is a big power struggle and she is a pawn, and Nicole has finally had enough. Zahn is a Geekiverse favorite as he has a pile of Star Wars books to his name. He always delivers, and a non-Star Wars title is exciting.

The Jane Austen Project by Kathleen A. Flynn (May 2)A couple of time-traveling researchers go back in time to meet beloved author Jane Austen and recover one of her unpublished novels. Whaaaaat? This is such a cool premise for a time travel piece. Not saving the world, or the galaxy or the universe or the Flash’s mom, just a little and noble quest. This debut novel by Kathleen A. Flynn looks like a winner as the complications the heroes encounter are much more human than galaxy shaking.

Jovienne by Linda Robertson (May 9)
When titular character, Jovienne, awakes from a coma she finds that she was in a horrific car accident months earlier, and that her family was killed. She is changed. Jovienne is then raised by a stranger who teaches her lessons that eventually lead her to a final test – a death match with a demon. You have my attention. Ultimately, Jovienne learns that her mentor is far from benevolent, and that he has a terrible secret of his own. Author Linda Robertson has a history of exciting urban fantasy novels to her credit, and Jovienne marks the beginning of a new series.

Order your copy of Jovienne from Amazon today (Available May 9)Killing Gravity by Corey J. White (May 9)In what appears to be the beginning of larger work (The Voidwitch Saga) Killing Gravity introduces Mars Xi, a voidwitch, who has “terrifying capabilities, a fierce sense of independence, a deficit of trust, and an experimental pet named Seven.” Killing Gravity is the debut work of author Corey J. White, and it looks exciting as Mars Xi is left stuck in a dying spaceship, determined to find the one who betrayed her. To do that she has to explore her own scary skills. Anybody else totally intrigued by “an experimental pet named Seven”? The book is short at 176 pages, which always appeals to me, the keeper of the unsustainable reading list.

This is the Grumpy Geek’s Best Bet this month. Excited for a new take on the biography.

Order your copy of Rise of the Dungeon Master hereGreedy Pigs: A Sin du Jour Affair by Matt Wallace (May 16)Author Matt Wallace is a screenwriter, and novelist and a former professional wrestler. ‘Nuff said. His Sin Du Jour series tells the story of a catering company that feeds the supernatural community. In Greedy Pigs, the fifth installment, the Sin Du Jour staff is catering an event for the President of the United States and uncovers a conspiracy as old as time. The novellas that make up this series are described as “crass, funny, gross, and sweet blend of fight sequences and top chef cooking” by author Kate Elliot. In other words…right up my alley. Oh yeah, and there’s a Shadow Government too. Almost too much to resist.

The End of Magic by Amber Benson (May 16)
Most true Geeks probably know Amber Benson from he three seasons as Tara Maclay in Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Since that show went off the air, Benson has been incredibly busy, continuing her career as an actress, writing and producing and directing feature films and writing novels and children’s books. The End of Magic is the third in the The Witches of Echo Park series. Lyse MacAllister has found herself in the middle of a witches clash with agroup of anti-magic zealots called The Flood, who are turning humans all over the world against the magic community. Lyse has some bridges to mend and she has to unite the witches or all of mankind could pay the price.

The End of Magic on AmazonDragon Teeth by Michael Crichton (May 23)Anyone who knows the Grumpy Geek knows that Michael Crichton is his all-time favorite author. I particularly love his near future science fiction stuff. Needless to say, I was devastated when Crichton passed away in 2008. Since his passing there have been some great reboots/remakes of his older work, and a few manuscripts in various degrees of completion found among his notes. One of last year’s hits was the return the world he created in Jurassic Park and the Lost World, and a complete reimagining of Westworld by HBO. The novels Micro and Pirate Latitudes were published posthumously. Dragon Teeth tells the story set against the rivalry between real life paleontologists Othniel Charles Marsh and Edwin Drinker Cope who have been tearing up the “Wild West” looking for dinosaur fossils. Dragon Teeth features William Johnson “a Yale student with more privilege than sense” who gets caught up in the rivalry. Dragon Teeth is described as a page turner that is meticulously researched (like all of Crichton’s books). Nothing about this book release makes me grumpy.

This is a close second. If you look closely you can see me totally fanboying right now.

Radiate by C.A. Higgins (May 23)
When I read the description of this book, I actually audibly laughed. Not because it is a comedy, but more because the concept is kind of awesome. Ananke is a spaceship, an AI spaceship that has become sentient. Despite the fact that she is an extremely powerful machine, she has a deeply human desire to know her “parents”. She travels the galaxy with Alethea, the engineer that created her, and the one she considers to be her mother. They are looking for Matthew, her father, the programmer who wrote the code that “brought her to life”. Matthew, however, is on a quest of his own that could have a potentially violent and horrible conclusion. Radiate is book three of the Lightless Trilogy by author C.A. Higgins.

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